


Only Ryuhei

by MultiVerSonalityDisorder



Category: Dengeki Daisy
Genre: Action, Children, Crimes & Criminals, Drug reference, F/M, Next Gen, Next Generation, Only Ryuhei, Romance, sex reference
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-03-14 15:00:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3415082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MultiVerSonalityDisorder/pseuds/MultiVerSonalityDisorder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tasuku and Teru, happily married, happily with five children. However, the oldest son, Ryuhei, has changed. His mood and behavior. He's gotten into trouble and Teru's determined to find out what it is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Kurosaki Ryuhei

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Dengeki Daisy or the characters, but I do own all five of the Kurosaki children, as well as this fiction.

Sunday. No school, no work. Just a day for the family to sleep in. A much deserved rest. Unless three of your children decide to sneak into your room while you’re sleeping, only to jump on you while chorusing in a rather loud “Wake up!”, giggling as you stir awake. Teru opened her eyes, rubbing at them as she stared at her lap, seeing a young boy smiling up at her in the process. She sighed with her own smile. At her left, her husband was trying to go back to sleep, rolling over onto his stomach as he stuffed his face into his pillow, mumbling something about “brats”. Teru’s smile grew.

"Mama, why is Papa still sleeping?" another, younger, boy questioned as he was forced out of his father’s lap from him turning away.

"Because Papa has been working very hard lately," Teru answered, placing a hand on her son’s head and ruffling his hair. "Maybe we should let him sleep in for a bit, ok? I’ll make us a big breakfast. How does that sound?"

"Good!" a little blonde girl who sat in the middle, giggled.

"All right! Let’s go!" The children nodded, scrambling off their parents and racing out to the kitchen, their mother slowly following, letting her eyes linger on the blonde hair that replaced the face of her most beloved before closing the door behind her.

"Ok, here’s what I want you guys to do," Teru announced as she started to gather some pots and pans, ingredients, all that she needed for breakfast. "Miwako, go check on Hideaki. Let me know if he’s awake or not, please?"

“‘Kay, Mama!” the little girl grinned as she scurried off to her baby brother’s room.

"Tadahiro, you can set the table, all right?"

"Yes, Mama!" the younger boy nodded, scampering over to the cabinet that held all their plates and silverware.

"And, Ikki, go get your brother? Ryuhei can help me cook."

"Uh, Mama?" the slightly older boy stood where he was, holding a slight look of guilt as he played with the end of his night shirt.

"Hm?" Teru couldn’t see him as she took out the eggs, her face still smiling at the thought of a happy, non-rushed breakfast with the whole family.

"Aniki-"

"Mama!" little Miwako, who was three, flew into the kitchen, ecstatic that she completed her task. "Mama! Hideaki’s awake!"

The woman looked over to her daughter and gave her a thumb’s up, “All right! Now, don’t touch anything over here while I go get him, ok?”

"Yes, Mama!"

"Good!" she gave her daughter a pat on the head, which in return she received a beaming smile along with flushed cheeks of pride, as she headed into the room which Miwako just came from. Soon, she came out with a little raven-haired infant, Hideaki, who was one, wrapped in her arms and balanced on her hip. He was rubbing at his eyes, little Hideaki, and yawning, and Teru placed him in his tiny playpen that was a foot away from the small coffee table where they all ate their meals.

"Look, Mama!" Tadahiro, who was six, pointed to said table with even more pride than his sister. "I finished setting up the table!"

"Nice work!" Teru ruffled his hair like she did earlier, hearing a few giggles from the boy’s mouth. "Now, you and your sister can go play until food is ready."

"Yes, Mama!" And, Tadahiro looked over at Miwako, grinning before racing her into their room where their toys were.

Teru chuckled before making her way back to the counter where the ingredients were, some starting to get warm. But, when she saw that Ikki, who was eight, still stood where he was, looking down at the floor with a look of shame that puzzled and worried his mother. She kneeled down to his level, took his small hands into her own and calmly, softly, asked, “Ikki, what’s wrong?”

"I can’t do it, Mama," he murmured, still not looking up into her eyes as he sniffled.

"Do what?"

"I can’t wake up Aniki."

"Why not? If he gets mad at you-"

Ikki shook his head, tears in his eyes, “Aniki isn’t here.”

Teru’s face froze, eyes wide, pupils dilated, “What?”

"Aniki left last night," the raven haired boy rubbed at his nose. "He told me not to tell you and that he would be home in the morning."

"Ikki," Teru placed her hands on her son’s shoulders and calmly asked, "Ikki Honey, do you know where he went? Did he say anything?"

Ikki only shook his head, bottom lip quivering, “I-I’m sorry, Mama.”

"No, no, no, no," she smiled softly, reassuringly as she embraced the young boy, a hand petting his soft short tuffs of hair. "It’s okay, it’s not your fault. But, next time you _have_ to tell me, all right?”

Tiny shaking hands reached around his mother, clenching onto the shoulders of her night shirt as young Ikki tried to keep from weeping, “Yes, Mama.”

"Good," she gave him a quick squeeze in her arms before pulling back and standing. "You stay here and I’ll-"

That was when the front door opened, and closed not too long after. Teru looked over, walking out of the kitchen and living room, to around the corner where said door was and she frowned. A young man with slightly grown out blonde hair stepped in, taking off his shoes as he leaned against the wall, dressed in jeans and a black sleeveless shirt, his gray jacket just barely hanging off of his elbows and several bruises covered his neck and a bit on the lower left of his abdomen where his shirt rode up a bit. The young man, at age sixteen, looked up, almost surprised to see the woman in front of him, but he sighed instead, “Ka-san.”

"Ryuhei!" Teru crossed her arms in front of her chest as she scowled at her son. "Where were you? What were you doing?"

Ryuhei’s gaze drifted to the side as he scratched the back of his head, his facial expression lazy and uninterested, “The brat squealed on me?”

"I told him to get you for breakfast and you weren’t there," his mother stated, clearly unamused with his behavior. "What were you doing out all night?"

"Is that really any of your business?"

"It is! I’m your mother and I worry!" Teru emphasized this as she fixed her facial features to match the stated emotion. "What if you were hurt? Or worse?"

"Well, then, sucks to be me, right?"

"Wrong! Ryuhei, what has gotten into you?"

"Hey, hey," a voice drawled from behind, forcing Teru to look over her shoulder, seeing her husband, dressed in just his blue pajama pants as he rubbed his eyes, and her three younger children hiding behind him, concerned at the yelling that was happening in front of the door. "What’s going on here?"

"Tasuku!" Teru, face etched with sincere fretfulness, turned to the older blonde male, as if begging him to reason with their oldest child. "Tasuku, Ryuhei snuck out last night and _just_ got home!”

"Eh?" lazy and slightly dazed eyes looked around the woman and at his son. He shrugged, "He seems fine."

"Tasuku!"

"What?"

"Don’t you think what he did was wrong? He snuck out of the house and was out all night!"

Ryuhei sighed, “I was at Sanae’s house.”

"There," Tasuku yawned, rolling his right shoulder and hearing a smart crack as he did, "he was at his girlfriend’s place."

Teru gaped ever so little, “Why were you there?”

The young man shrugged, “Because I wanted to be? Do I need a reason to see my girlfriend?”

"You do when it’s the middle of the night!"

"Teru," Tasuku called out to his wife, walking over to her and grabbing her hand gently. "How about we eat first then _talk_ it over?”

"But, Tasuku-"

"Come on," he placed a kiss on her forehead. "The little ones are gonna get upset."

Teru’s eyes slid down to Ikki, Tadahiro, and Miwako, who all had tears in their eyes as they hid behind each other a few feet away. She sighed, “All right. I’ll go make it and then…”

"Good," the man smiled softly with a nod. He never liked to see Teru get too upset over anything. It really got to him.

Ryuhei took this opportunity to sneak passed his parents, announcing, “I’ll be sleeping in my room.”

"Okay," his father turned to watch his son make his way inside the inner portion of the house. "When breakfast is ready we’ll wake you up and talk about this afterwards."

The only response Tasuku got was a wave of, possible, dismissal, and Ryuhei disappeared behind the corner.

"What has gotten into him?" Teru whispered, half concerned and half angry.

"He’s growing up," Tasuku answered, tugging his wife along back towards the kitchen and living room. The other three children following them, now relieved that there wasn’t going to be another fight.

"But, still…he wasn’t like this until he got into high school…"

"Those are the rough years. Remember your high school years?"

Teru snorted, “Well, I had an extra special case.”

"Well, Teru was special, so I guess it makes sense."

“ _Was_ special?” the dark haired woman nudged her husband in the side. “Does that mean I’m not special anymore?”

Even with the pitiful nudge, Tasuku still laughed and leaned down a bit to whisper in his wife’s ear, “You’re always special.” He placed a kiss on her cheek, gaining a pretty blush that he never got tired of seeing. The giggles of children filled both adults’ ears and they turned their gazes down where their offspring encircled them with knowing grins and flushed cheeks.

"And, what are you looking at, brats?" Tasuku smirked at the trio teasingly.

"No~thing~" they sang, turning to each other to giggle away some more before running off into the shared room of Tadahiro and Miwako to play. Almost instantly, young Hideaki started crying.

"I’ll get him," the blonde reassured, releasing Teru’s hand and walking over to the playpen to pick up the tiny raven haired infant. "You make the food."

Teru rolled her eyes, though a smile on her face, “Of course.”

**-**


	2. No Confrontations

"So, Ryuhei," Tasuku stretched his arms over his head, arching his back with a sigh, or groan, as Teru and the younger children scurried into the kitchen to clean up the dishes, young Hideaki stumbling about in his pen.

The teen sat where he was, seeming bored as he kept his stare at the table's surface, leaning on his elbows, a cheek resting in a palm. He didn't turn his coal-shaded eyes towards his father and instead gave a simple shrug of his shoulders.

There was a snort from the older male as he resettled into his spot properly. Sad enough, he had already reached into his forties, but that just seemed to make him mellower; though he could lose his patience with brats. He shook his head, "What have you been up to lately? You're rarely home anymore, you know?"

"School."

"Besides that."

"I hang out with some friends."

"Ah?"

"What?"

"What what?"

"What do you want?"

Tasuku shrugged, mirroring his son's attitude and behavior to the best of his abilities, "Well, I just want to know as to why you have to hang out with your friends so late at night."

"Because that's when they want to hang out."

"Tell them you can't then. Some other time."

Ryuhei sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Does it really matter?"

"Yeah, it kind of does, actually," there was a smirk on the man's face as his knuckles rapped on the table once. "You know, I see myself as pretty lenient. I could be a hell of a lot stricter, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I mean, do I ever really tell you what you should and should not do?"

The young man stared at his father in silence. He refused to respond to that question. Feeling if he did, he'd be an idiot.

"Nah, I don't do I? You're a smart kid, Ryuhei, and I really trust your judgment, and your side of whatever story. You're pretty capable of being able to determine what's right and what's wrong, so I never bother you. But…" Tasuku scratched at the back of his head. "You see, this really bothers your mother, and it kind of bothers me, too. So, could you cut back on the sneaking out at night a bit?"

There was a pregnant pause as, so it seemed to be, there began a stare-down between father and son. However, Ryuhei was the first to fold. He gave a short laugh and stood up, hands in his pockets as he slightly hunched, "Sure. Whatever."

**-**


	3. Love Is the Center of a Family

"Ryuhei," his father called his name, almost sternly, his face serious. "I mean it."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you," the younger blonde waved at his father as he turned, aiming towards his room.

"Ah, I hope you're not thinking of going to bed. The day has just begun~" Tasuku stood with a teasing grin on his face. "I was hoping I could use your assistance in cleaning up the house today~"

Looking over his shoulder, Ryuhei groaned. Holding back a glare towards his father before he heaved a sigh and trudged to his shared shelter, "Fine, let me get ready."

"All right~" with the click of the door, the man's smile fell. He looked over towards the kitchen and ended up meeting Teru's eyes. He shrugged, "See? It's nothing bad."

"But, Tasuku," she half-whispered as she took the last plate from Ikki who had been helping her dry the dishes, "I'm worried. I just…it feels like there's something more. You saw how guarded he was, right?"

The man gave another shrug before he leaned over towards the playpen to pick up his youngest son, holding him up in the air to earn a wide smile as the tiny body wriggled and arms outstretched towards his face. He gave a forlorn smile as he lowered the babe onto his hip. "He just seemed tired to me," he drawled.

"But, those bruises, Tasuku!"

"He gets into fights. That's what boys do at his age."

"What could he possibly be doing to get people so mad at him that they want to punch him?"

"Teru," Tasuku gave a tone of warning as he looked over at his wife. "Sometimes it doesn't take much to set some people off."

Teru paused, brows furrowing in a wounded manner before she let out a sigh, placing the plate in its proper cabinet as she said, "I don't think our son is a bad person. I'm just worried that…maybe he knows the wrong people and he may be getting dragged into it."

The blonde man didn't respond, instead he bounced Hideaki on his hip, making a noise that sent the boy into a fit of giggles, reaching and grabbing at his father's lips that in turn made the man laugh. Once more, Teru sighed. Miwako and Tadahiro had slipped away into their room, leaving only Ikki to look up at his mother in worry. He tugged at her pajamas and she glanced down at him, baring a weak smile.

"Ikki," she kneeled down, placing her hands on the boy's shoulder, "do you want to go out and play today?"

Instantly, the raven haired boy perked up, eyes shining wide as he nodded, "To the park?"

Teru gave a laugh and nodded back, "Of course. Why don't you go tell your brother and sister?"

"Ah, wh-what about Aniki?"

"Ryuhei will stay here and help your father with the house, remember?" Ikki nodded. "Now, you all get ready, all right? We'll leave in an hour."

"Yes, Mama!" Ikki dashed out of the kitchen and into his siblings' room, peeking his head in and shouting of going to the park. There were squeals of excitement and the children set to work to ready themselves for the day. Ikki, almost hesitantly, returned to his room to change.

"You're taking them out?" Tasuku questioned, forcing Teru to flinch slightly at the sudden entrance of his voice. She looked over at him then smiled.

"Yeah."

"So, I'm guessing you'll be taking him out, too?" he nudged his chin down towards Hideaki in his arms.

Making her way over, Teru reached her arms out and nodded, "Yeah."

Tasuku sighed, "All right." He handed the child over, and once the infant was out of his hands and into his mother's, the blonde man grabbed Teru by the shoulders before placing a quick kiss to her lips. "I need to run to the store. You be careful, all right?"

Teru almost seemed shocked at her husband's actions and once they registered into her mind, she flushed red and nodded. "But, why are you going out?" she queried.

He chuckled, "The broom broke. Need to get a new one."

"You going to work him hard?"

"Not enough to kill him."

At this, Teru smiled. So, she wasn't the only one who was mad at Ryuhei. "All right. Be safe while you're out," she demanded as she placed a kiss to her husband's cheek.

**-**


	4. Youth Must Learn

"Of course," Tasuku nodded as he ruffled his wife's hair, earning him a sulking pout before the two of them fell into laughter.

* * *

By the time Tasuku returned, the house was empty, save for the blonde teen who lied on his back in front of the television on the couch, seeming to be fast asleep. The man sighed, tightening the grip he had on the broom and holding it high above his head before it quickly fell down aiming for the boy's skull.

_Smack!_

The head of the broom was caught between the palms of none other than Ryuhei. "What do you think you're doing, Old Man?" the teen glared with a deadly sneer.

Tasuku returned it tenfold as it became a struggle, him pushing down on the broom as his son pushed it away, "I see you're awake after all!"

"I was just resting my eyes!"

"Is that it? Well then!" the man pulled back, retrieving the cleaning tool and throwing it over his shoulder as he stared apathetically down at the young blonde. "Let's get to work."

* * *

Noon came and Teru stumbled in, her precious baby in her arms as she tried to herd her three other children inside; giggling as they removed their shoes, excited from the morning outside, until they stopped dead in their tracks and silenced after entering the living room. Teru grew worried as she removed her own shoes, shifting the youngest on her hips before following, then smiling as she placed a hand atop Ikki's head. Ryuhei was passed out on the couch, face first, one arm dangling as he seemed to be curled a bit at an angle, one foot also off the couch. The sound of water rushing through came to everyone's ears before it vanished, the bathroom door opening and Tasuku coming out, freezing for a moment when he suddenly found everyone standing in the middle of their home.

"What's going on?" he inquired, stepping over until his legs were bombarded by his middle three children who seemed to be clinging. Teru looked over to Tasuku with a soft smile as she placed Hideaki in his pen before scurrying over to the kitchen to grab a cloth, soaking it in water before wringing it out a bit. Coming back, she kneeled beside Ryuhei and softly stared to rub at the smudges of dirt on his face. Tasuku smirked, "He must have actually fallen asleep this time if he's not waking up."

"Tasuku, did you work him too hard?"

"Nah, not too hard, but hard enough."

"He's so tired," she whispered, tentatively moving a bit of hair out of his face, his expression so calm with his lips slightly parted. She stood, looking almost in tears as she walked over to the kitchen to set down the cloth, stopping at the sink when Miwako and Tadahiro each took a leg, looking up at their mother in concern.

"Mama," Miwako called up to the woman, "are you all right?"

"Why are you crying, Mama?" Tadahiro added.

Teru sighed, though a smile on her face as kneeled down and hugged both of her children close, "I'm all right, thank you. I'm just a little sad that you all are growing up so quickly."

"But, we wanna grow up," Miwako replied.

Her brother nodded, "We want to help you better."

"We know," Tasuku interjected, having joined the three with Ikki at his heels. "And, those are good thoughts." He smiled, and the two grinned back up at him. "Now, why don't you two and your brother go play for a bit while I talk with your mother?"

"Okay, Papa." The two gave Teru one last squeeze before releasing her, and Ikki followed them to their room, almost hesitantly as he looked over his shoulder at his parents, until the door finally closed and the three siblings were out of earshot.

Teru stood up, looking up at Tasuku before he in turn embraced her, she clinging to the sides of his shirt; the smell of cleaning products, dirt, and sweat coming off of him, but she didn't mind. In fact it always brought her back to the times of when he worked as a janitor and she was a not-so-simple student. "I can't believe he's already almost an adult," she murmured. "He used to be my baby and now I'm losing him. I can't protect him anymore."

"I know," Tasuku murmured.

Teru chuckled, "Sometimes I wonder how things would be with Nii-san here. I wonder how the kids would have been affected."

"For some reason, I feel that as soon as Ryuhei would have come along, your brother wouldn't want us to have more…"

"Oh no," Teru pulled back with a smile, "Nii-san would have been happy. He would have congratulated us and demanded for us to have more."

" _Oh, little Ryuhei~ So cute! So soft! Teru! Tasuku! I demand a niece! I want more cute little nieces and nephews! Hurry! Hurry!"_

A deep red enveloped Tasuku's cheeks as he imagined it, a rough and stiff smile on his lips as a look of dread hit his eyes, "Now that you mention it…he would have been annoying about it…"

Teru giggled, "Yeah, he would have." She sighed looking over at the couch. "I hope he'll be all right."

"He'll be fine," Tasuku pulled Teru back to his chest, resting his chin atop her head. "He's a smart kid."

* * *

"Ryuhei~" the young man turned around; a new day, yet just as any other day in school, in the hallway on his way to class. His expression blank and bland even when he was met with the smiling face of his girlfriend; long black wavy hair, dark brown eyes, pink lip gloss lightly decorating her smile, stuck in the same uniform as him, though she chose the short skirt, like many other girls her age with a few exceptions to choosing the longer selection.

"Sanae."

"Oh~ Don't look at me like that," she pouted, wrapping her arms around his torso loosely. "What's wrong? You didn't call me yesterday."

"I was 'apprehended' when I got home."

"Your parents found out?"

"My mother freaked when she found out I snuck out that night. My father…he didn't care too much, he was more bothered about the fact that it bothered my mother."

**-**


	5. Resolve Isn't Easy

"I'm sorry," she placed a kiss to his lips. "I didn't mean to get you into trouble."

"It's fine," Ryuhei shrugged.

"Well, if that's so, how about tomorrow night? The guys are going get something good and Yonebashi is going to be there, too."

"Goro?" Ryuhei rose a brow. "What is he planning to do there?"

Sanae shrugged, "Who knows, he just said he was going to show up."

Ryuhei sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck, "It's never good when he decides to do that."

"And, why's that?"

"It just means that he's going to start trouble. Usually."

"You know," Sanae looked up, suddenly seeming sincere, eyebrows furrowed as she looked up into her boyfriend's eyes, placing a hand on his cheek, "you don't have to be involved anymore."

Ryuhei's hand came up, gently covering his girlfriend's, but not removing her tinier hand at all. His eyes closed and he scowled, "I can't run away. Not as long as I'm stuck here. Then, when I can find somewhere else, we can both get out of here."

"I'm sorry, Ryuhei, this-"

The bell rang, and any students still left in the halls scurried to their classes, not wanting to be late. Ryuhei groaned as he glared at the clock in the hallway, removing Sanae's hand but holding it, fingers intertwined. "Well, I guess I'll see you later then."

"At gym?"

"Yeah."

"All right," Sanae smiled once more, and Ryuhei kissed her, catching her off-guard for a moment before she returned it. He pulled back, placing a peck of his lips to her forehead.

"Be careful," he whispered.

"Of course," she replied.

And, almost unwillingly, the two parted. Ryuhei turned with his previous lackluster expression, hands in his pockets as he made his way to his homeroom class. His mind whirling at the thought of facing Yonebashi Goro for the first time in months. He gritted his teeth, and his hands became fists for a moment before he calmed himself, stepping foot into the classroom just as the final bell rang.

After all, if he couldn't be a good son, he might as well go to class to make up for it.

* * *

"I'm home!"

"Welcome home!" Teru responded cheerfully, turning around from the sink to see Ryuhei walking in with his two younger brothers; Ikki removing his own shoes as Ryuhei helped Tadahiro remove his.

"Nii-chan!" Miwako giggled, a bright grin on her face as she scurried over to the young man, leaving Tadahiro to pout at his undone shoe that was left on his foot. The little blonde girl loved her brother, but with yesterday being so hectic with the yelling and bad atmosphere…she couldn't bring herself to go near him until later that day.

"Hey, Mii," Ryuhei gave his sister a kiss to the cheek, "did you do well today?"

"Yes! I helped Mama make lunch!"

"That's great!"

"Aniki," Tadahiro groaned, "my shoe."

"Tadahiro, why don't you try doing the last shoe by yourself?"

"Ryuhei, don't be like that, help him," Teru frowned slightly, but Ryuhei glanced up at her. His smile fading, he stood while holding Miwako's hand, Ikki sitting down next to Tadahiro.

"He should at least try, Ka-san, don't baby him."

Before Teru could say anything in response, her husband appeared, wrapping an arm about her shoulder, a lazy smirk on his face, "How was school?"

Ryuhei shrugged, Miwako dragging him into the living room as Ikki assisted his younger brother, "School is school. Nothing much to it."

"You didn't bring Sanae over?"

"Was I supposed to?"

Tasuku shrugged, his eye catching his younger two sons suddenly whizzing by to jump onto the couch, where Miwako shoved Ryuhei to, forcing him to sit at the very end before crawling up into his lap, "Well, we haven't seen her really since you two went out on your first date. Maybe once or twice afterwards and it's been months since then."

"She has a family dinner tonight," Ryuhei grumbled. "Her parents and she are going to be visiting her brother."

"Oh, he's a college student, right?" Teru queried aloud.

"He's a second year."

"Speaking of university. Have you thought of any-?"

"No, not yet," Ryuhei snapped, feeling the flinch of his younger sister in his lap. He glanced down to see her expression. Upset with knitted brows and wide eyes. He sighed, "I don't want to talk about this right now."

A heavy silence reigned about the Kurosaki family, until Tasuku heaved an even heavier sigh, "Well, we're going to have to talk about it someday. So, you better prepare yourself for it. And, other than that, I have nothing else to say. So, I'll be in my room working on my program, all right?" There was no response, save for a few stares. He shrugged it off, placing a kiss to Teru's cheek before heading into his office, "Let me know when dinner is ready!"

The door closed, and an even heavier atmosphere grew between the woman and her eldest son.

"Ryuhei," Teru sighed, lifting her arms and dropping them once more at her sides in exasperation as she shook her head. Her attention turned to her other children who, with Ikki understanding the look and forced his siblings, left the room and into the shared room of Tadahiro and Miwako, closing the door behind them; however, Ikki leaving just the sliver of a crack, sitting beside the door to hear. Teru, with another sigh, sat beside her eldest son, looking at him with worried eyes as he avoided looking at her altogether, his gaze down between his feet as he leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Ryuhei, please, tell me what's going on."

"What's going on with what?" he mumbled back, an irritated scowl on his lips.

"With  _you_ ," the woman reached up to stroke her son's hair, but he pulled away, glaring at his mother. "Ryuhei!"

The young man stood up, hissing, "There's nothing 'up' or 'wrong'. I'm just trying to get a little independence, all right? I'm going to school, I'm getting good grades, what's enough for you people? You have to get into my personal life, too?!"

"You've been getting into fights, haven't you?!" Teru shouted as she stood up as well. "Those bruises-!"

"Are  _my_  business!" Placing a hand on his chest, eyes narrowing, Ryuhei continued, "This is  _my_  body! This is  _me_! You have  _no_  say!"

"I'm your  _mother_!"

"So  _what_?! You worry?! I have my own worries, too! I'm not some kid!"

"Then, understand,  _please_! If you have your own worries, then you would understand why I'm trying to make sure there is no real reason for my own, that there's no real proof that there's something troubling going on and you're somehow involved with it! I just want to make sure you are safe, that you aren't getting into any trouble or danger." A tear slid down Teru's cheek, "Please, Ryuhei, understand this. My heart can't settle down, my mind won't stop turning all of these horrible scenarios."

Suddenly, Ryuhei fell silent, brows knitted together, frown on his lips as his cheeks became a bright red. He appeared frustrated, as though his mind was in a struggle. He sat back down on the couch, sighing heavily as he rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes, grinding them. "Shit," he muttered. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."

Normally, Teru would have said something about her son's language, but now was not an appropriate time to berate him when it seemed he was just settling down once more, perhaps sympathizing with his mother. She sat beside him once more, a hand on his shoulder and her heart leaped when he didn't shrink away from her touch. "Ryuhei, do you understand?"

He didn't say a word, just nodded, his ears a bright pink and Teru had to hold back a giggle. Ever since he was a child, he would never verbally admit he was wrong, at least not when it came to his family. However, his face would always flush pink or a beet red depending on the situation, and that would be his apology. He didn't know how to express himself in certain ways, and those ways always made him feel shy and embarrassed. Later on, this expression would be followed by some sort of small act of kindness, like he would do his chores without being asked, he would offer to go to the store for groceries and such, even give a small trinket if he felt so inclined.

"Ryuhei, will you tell me then?"

"I…can't," the young man peeked at his mother, hiding his face with his palms. "Ka-san, I really…can't say anything…"

"And, why is that?"

"I just…can't. It's nothing to worry about. I mean, I'm the only one who should be worrying, so you can just relax. I'm not doing anything 'bad'."

"But, Ryuhei, if you're worrying, I'll be worrying, too."

The young blonde groaned, "And, this is why I didn't want to tell you anything!"

"Well, it can't be helped."

"Yes, it can," once again, Ryuhei jumped to his feet. "Just drop it. Just forget I even said anything."

"Ryuhei-!"

But, it was too late. The young man stomped to his room, slamming the door behind him and locking it, leaving his mother in a slight stupor until the sound of her youngest child, crying from being awoken filled her ears, "Hideaki." She had whispered the boy's name as she stood, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She looked over to see the serious face of her husband. "Tasuku?"

"Sit here and I'll be right back," the man told her, and she did as she was instructed, sitting awkwardly as she watched her husband first walk towards the younger pair's room. "Close the door, Ikki!" he told his son who hurriedly scurried to close it completely. Tasuku gave a slight laugh before heading across the room to the youngest's crib, opening the door to a dark room with a single beam of light from the night-light, the wailing louder, but soon dropping from the consoling of his father.

After several minutes, Tasuku left the room, Hideaki fast asleep once more as the blonde closed the door behind him softly, crossing over to Teru who sat there, puzzled, "Everything all right?"

"Yeah, Ryuhei just startled him." Tasuku released a sigh as he sat beside his wife, an arm wrapping around her shoulders as he leaned back into the couch; holding her to his chest, head hanging back as he took in a deep breath. "Really, that kid."

"I thought you were going to be working on your program?"

"I was but I could hear your shouting and I was going to let it go, because I thought you two needed to get it out in the open and maybe it'd get better but…" Tasuku rubbed the back of his neck, "I guess I miscalculated."

"It  _was_  getting better," Teru sighed, resting her head on her husband's shoulder. "But, I guess Ryuhei is really reluctant on sharing anything with me."

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all for the year! Thank you for joining me in this fan fiction, and I hope that next year I can produce better and longer chapters worthy for you guys! Thanks so much, and Happy Holidays!  
> -MultiVerSonalityDisorder


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